Bellevue

 On Tuesday we went on a day adventure with Margaret and Anna and her kids. It was such a fun-filled day. We drove up to Bellevue and first stopped at the Seattle Temple and walked around.

On one side of the temple there is a pretty steep hill and the kids really liked rolling down the hill and it didn't matter to them that the grass was all wet.

 It was a beautiful, sunny day and the temple grounds are always so gorgeous and we enjoyed walking around and taking lots of pictures.

 Oh how I love this little girl! She is my constant companion and does everything with me. I was thinking about her going to kindergarten and that there won't be as many of these day adventures since she will be in school and it made me sad to think about. I love my little companion and always having her with me.

 We then walked through a path that led to this huge park. It is a really awesome park with lots of green space and a really fun playground. We had a picnic for lunch and then the kids spent some time on the playground.

 She is just too cute!

 Then we drove to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. I loved it here! It was so beautiful and I could have spent much longer here. It is pretty big and we didn't get to see it all. I would love to go back with Nate sometime when it is not quite as hot.

 She loved having this map and leading the way.

 On the map there were some fun things for kids to find and this was one of them- a frog statue that you can put money in that helps with the gardens.

 I told Paige to pose by this and this is the face I got. She is such a silly girl.

 Another thing to find on her map- the hobbit door. She pretended to knock and I could see the concern on her face that if she really did knock that someone would answer it. :)

 We then ended our fun adventure at Triple X for root beer floats. Paige and I shared one and it was really good. Thanks Nona for suggesting the adventure and taking us along!

 Then yesterday we went back up to Bellevue with Anna and her kids to go to a new playground/splash pad. We got Subway on the way and had lunch at the park and the kids enjoyed a couple hours of playing. It was a really fun park and I am glad there was the splash area because it was a pretty hot day.

 Paige spent most of her time following Eliza around and being her "babysitter". It was cute to watch and Paige absolutely loves Eliza. Paige will be one amazing big sister.

 There was this waterfall that Paige went through a couple of times. She was very tentative at first and it took her awhile to go through since there was lots of kids but once she went through she had a big grin on her face and was so proud of herself. 

It was another fun day and thanks Anna for the invite and taking us along with you! We have loved all these adventures for the week and spending our summer days outside.

Visitors

 This past weekend Derek and Amy came up to Washington for a quick visit. They had a wedding to go to of a friend and it was great that it was so close to us that we got to spend the weekend with them

They got here Friday evening and we had dinner at our apartment and then went to Dale and Margaret's house to stay for the weekend so we could all stay together in one place. We played a game called "Watch Ya Mouth" where you put this mouthpiece is and try and say phrases to your teammate to guess. It was so entertaining and we were all laughing. Amy was the most entertaining since she was laughing so much when it was her turn that she couldn't get any words out.

Then Saturday we went to the Kubota Gardens in the morning and enjoyed walking around there and enjoying nature and each other's company.

 We then went to lunch at Ivars to get some fish and chips since Derek loved it so much the last time they came to visit us. We then went to a couple of thrift stores before heading home so they could get ready for the wedding. Saturday evening was the wedding so they were gone but we also had a ward potluck at Lake Wilderness so it was good to go to that while they were gone.

Sunday we spent the day at Mount Rainier. It was so beautiful and the perfect day. It was just the right temperature that you didn't need a jacket and the scenery was so gorgeous.

We went up to Paradise first and here are a few pictures of our way up.

 We got up to Paradise and had our picnic. There are a few hikes up there but there was this darn cloud that covered Mount Rainier so  we walked around a little bit but decided not to stay up there too long since you couldn't see the mountain. It would have been the perfect view of the mountain if that cloud wasn't there. That was disappointing but it was still really pretty and we drove down and made some stops along the way to the Grove of the Patriarchs which is down a bit.

 We stopped and enjoyed this gorgeous waterfall for a little bit right after leaving Paradise.

 Mount Rainier trying to peek out from the cloud.

 At the waterfall there was a guy that told us that they had seen a bear when they were coming up and to be on the lookout for it in the meadow which was just a little ways down. I was looking for a group of cars because usually if there is a bear then there are people stopped to look at it. I just happened to look down and saw the bear and we were the start of a group of cars stopping to take pictures of the bear. Paige was excited to see the bear since I told her that last time we came up to Mount Rainier when she was a baby that we saw a bear and we got to see one this time too.

 Then as we were stopped along the road to look at the bear Derek looked to the other side of the road and said is that a rabbit? And we found another animal to look at that we think is called a marman or marmant but he was really cute and got pretty close to us.

 Another pretty stop along the way down.

 We then got to the Grove of the Patriarchs which is the perfect hike for kids. It is not very long and mostly shaded and has this awesome suspension bridge.

We stopped the river and I guess it was hot enough that Derek wanted to put his face in glacier water.

 The hike was beautiful and lots of big trees to look at and explore around.

 This is the end of the trail where there is a grove of these ginormous trees that you loop through.

 The suspension bridge was pretty cool but shaky. You have to cross it to go to the grove so this was on the way back. For this hike Paige was Amy's little buddy and Paige wanted to hike by her and wanted to cross the bridge with Amy both times.

 We put our feet in the really cold water at the end of the hike before heading home.

 We then started the drive home and there was a viewpoint of Mount Rainier so we stopped and got a few more pictures before driving the rest of the way.

 You know it has been a busy and fun day when she falls asleep in the car. 

I loved going up to Mount Rainier and it was such a beautiful day and so much beauty to look at. We enjoyed dinner once we got home and spent some more time just visiting with Derek and Amy before it was time for bed. We said our goodbyes Sunday night since they got up around 4:30 in the morning to head out the next day. It was such a fun weekend and we always love having visitors.